Students evacuate, but no fire at West

A short circuit led to the evacuation of West Elementary School on Tuesday morning in what ended up being a false alarm.

“We erred on the side of safety,” said West principal Marsha Newman of the evacuation of the school which came when the alarm sounded around lunch time. “At first we didn’t know what it was so we were taking no chances.”

The culprit, Newman said, ended up being a short circuit of the alarm system caused by water which had leaked into the system from the roof where men were working. Firemen arrived at the scene and found the problem while students waited outside for the OK to return inside.

“It was good practice,” Newman said. “Everyone got out very calmly so it was almost like running a drill.”